Expérience

01/06/2011

This weekend we open the next Tesla Store at Park Meadows Mall in Lone Tree, Colorado. Each Tesla Store opening represents a pivotal milestone on the path to putting Model S on the road; they make Tesla’s groundbreaking electric vehicle technology accessible to more people.

Thursday morning we found ourselves in Edinburgh, considering our next move. We had thought about escorting the BBC’s Mini-E into Edinburgh (it had to pass within half a mile of our host’s location), but decided to leave driver Brian Milligan to finish on his own. Although some made accusations that our trip the previous day was also just a PR stunt, we actually intended to continue driving.

David Peilow is a Systems Engineer at a British satellite manufacturer. A lifelong car fan, he has anticipated the arrival of EVs since reading about the GM Impact as a teenager. His dealings with SpaceX and quick chat with Elon Musk in his day job led him to follow developments at Tesla from the beginning. A 2008 discussion at a car show about the similarities between Tesla's approach to battery design and the use of 18650 form factor lithium ion cells in his satellite projects led to a test drive of a Roadster validation prototype. The rest, as they say, is history.

Model S, engineered from the ground as an EV, is meticulously designed for superior aerodynamics, stability and handling, crash safety, performance and range. Before Model S enters production it will have been thoroughly tested using both computer simulations and test vehicles. Tesla will complete two vehicle testing phases, Alpha and Beta. The Alpha phase began in 2010.

We’ve been driving our Tesla in Belgium for more than six months and have racked up nearly 20,000 kms. Every working day I drive it to my job and to my business appointments – no problems whatsoever. It’s perfect for our daily use in and around our home in Ghent. But we were curious to know whether it could “go the distance,” so to speak, and serve as a road trip car.

On December 4th our Roadster was ready, but were we? We live in the hills nine miles from and 1800 feet above downtown Boulder. It had been snowing all week. There were cars in the ditch on our road. My m-coupe is moth-balled for the winter. How could we get our Tesla home?

Simon Hackett is founder and managing director of Internode, the largest privately held Australian national broadband Internet provider in Australia. The company, founded in 1991, is based in Adelaide, South Australia.

Like many owners I have met (in person, or via the web) I had multiple motives for buying a Tesla Roadster. As a confirmed “car guy” who competes in Sports Car Club of America road racing and has owned many sports cars, I was intrigued by the performance characteristics and styling of the car. As a long-term supporter of environmental causes, I wanted to support Tesla’s efforts to make an electric sports car a reality, and I hoped to help evangelize the energy and environmental benefits of electric cars.

Michael Marks was interim CEO of Tesla from August 2007 to November 2007. Before that he was CEO of electronics manufacturing services company Flextronics. He sits on the board of directors at several public and private technology companies, and he has been managing partner of Riverwood Capital since March 2007. He took ownership of his Roadster – Founders Series No. 22 – in November 2008.